# Agile work as a habit

{{< admonition type=info open=true >}}
This post was originally written in Italian and translated using AI. If you notice any translation errors or unclear passages, please let me know.

[🇮🇹 Read the original post in Italian](/il-lavoro-agile-come-abitudine/)
{{< /admonition >}}




Not all jobs can be done remotely. I’ll start with this **premise**, perhaps obvious to many, because I still find myself debating on social media with people who counter with simplistic arguments, trying to pontificate about which tasks are compatible with *remote work*. The job market has never been in such a state of **flux** as it is now and, thanks to a major technological push, we can confidently say that Generation Alpha will perform tasks that have not even been imagined yet. On the other hand, repetitive or low value-added jobs are constantly subject to **automation**. So yes, not all jobs are compatible with *remote work*, but the trend of jobs that can be done remotely is steadily growing.

With that premise, in the near future every company will inevitably have to structure itself to be ***full-remote compliant***. The remote work experience during the emergency period catapulted companies and employees into the pressing **need** for IT tools that could enable communication and work from home. However, the urgency with which companies had to respond to these demands **prevented** them from focusing on other, equally important, aspects of *remote work.*

As I explained in a previous article: *[remote work kills](https://simonevellei.com/blog/posts/il-lavoro-agile-uccide/).* The shift—forced or not—to a **distributed** model, no longer centralized in the office but highly interconnected, inevitably pushes companies to structure themselves properly, and to **kill** old and outdated practices. *Remote work* does not kill company **culture**, but exposes it, revealing its weaknesses. It goes without saying that introducing *remote work* into a poorly organized environment or in the absence of a true project methodology is highly **risky**. And that is what happened in the vast majority of cases during the pandemic emergency. So what are the first precautions to take in order to face this **transition** effectively and smoothly?

### Not an exception, but a (healthy) habit

According to some theories, it takes 21 consecutive, uninterrupted days to **turn** an activity into a habit. More recent studies, however, have shown that it takes 66 days, even intermittently. Whichever theory you prefer, you must keep in mind that creating a habit has a **cost**. If the phrase “*we’ve always done it this way*” locks you into a static balance, you should expect additional costs to shift from *sliding friction* to *rolling friction*. Breaking old, well-established patterns to **embrace** new practices requires a very significant initial *effort*, which will then tend to stabilize once the organizational *machine* is up and running.

With this premise, and setting the goal of approaching *remote work*, we can outline the list of ingredients for a successful recipe:

* **Study.** As with any new “subject,” the starting point is studying the state of the art. One of my [previous articles](https://simonevellei.com/blog/posts/12-indizi-che-dello-smartworking-non-hai-capito-nulla/) collects 12 points of reflection as a starting base; in any case, the goal is becoming aware of **how** a *full-remote* company operates.
* **Plan.** Once ideas and questions are collected, you need to start drafting an operational plan, including which business areas will be involved, and what technical or organizational challenges may arise. Organizing the various steps into a **timeline** with *milestones* can help track progress.
* **Involve.** The operational plan, both in its creation and implementation, must necessarily be **shared** as widely as possible. This process of openness will allow potential issues to surface early, not during execution.
* **Destroy.** If you imagine that the current project approach—assuming a valid one exists—does not work with the new *remote work* model, you will need the **courage** to remove any obstacles to change.
* **Rebuild.** Starting from the company’s foundations and then working up through the various departments, everything must be rebuilt through **agile** *design* that supports remote work.

As you can well imagine, the introduction of *remote work* within a company is a **complex** process, of which this article highlights only a few critical points. Beyond being broad, it is also a **continuous** process over time, so it does not end the moment you are ready for implementation. From my personal point of view, there is **no such thing** as *remote work* without *agile design*. Team decentralization requires a different organization, no longer based on hours, but on goals. The ultimate aim remains to improve company **productivity** and minimize employee **stress**.